1. Field
The following description relates generally to an organic light emitting diode display and a manufacturing method thereof.
2. Description of the Related Art
An organic light emitting diode display includes organic light emitting elements, each of which includes a hole injection electrode, an organic emission layer, and an electron injection electrode. Each organic light emitting element emits light by energy generated when an exciton generated by a combination of electrons and holes in the organic emission layer falls from an excited state to a ground state. The organic light emitting diode display then generates a predetermined or preselected image using the light emission.
The organic light emitting diode display has light-luminance characteristics and does not require a separate light source unlike a liquid crystal display (LCD), thereby reducing thickness and weight of the display as compared to other displays, such as LCDs. Further, the organic light emitting diode display has high-quality characteristics such as low power consumption, high luminance, fast response speed, and the like and as a result, has been spotlighted as a next generation display device.
The foregoing organic light emitting element may be deteriorated due to internal factors such as deterioration of the organic emission layer due to oxygen from indium tin oxide (ITO) used as electrode materials, deterioration due to reaction between interfaces of the organic material layers configuring the organic emission layer, and the like and may be deteriorated due to external factors such as external moisture and oxygen, ultraviolet (UV) light, and the like. In particular, the external oxygen and moisture fatally affect the lifespan of the organic light emitting element, and therefore a packaging technology of encapsulating the organic light emitting element is beneficial to the lifespan of the organic light emitting element.
The organic light emitting element is manufactured to be thin or bent easily in order to be applied to various applications or surfaces. A thin film encapsulation (TFE) technology has been developed in order to manufacture the organic light emitting element thinly and flexibly. The thin film encapsulation technology is a technology of covering a display area with a thin film encapsulation layer by alternately laminating an inorganic layer and an organic layer of at least one layer on the organic light emitting elements formed in the display area of a substrate. The organic light emitting diode display including the thin film encapsulation layer may be easily bent and slimmed (e.g., made thin), when the substrate is formed of a flexible film.
The organic light emitting element including the flexible substrate is different in manufacturing process conditions from the organic light emitting element including the existing glass substrate and thus may be damaged during manufacturing process conditions designed for a glass substrate.
The above information disclosed in this Background section is only for enhancement of understanding of the background of the described technology and therefore it may contain information that does not form the prior art that is already known in this country to a person of ordinary skill in the art.